


Curious Minds

by jadedace



Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, F/M, FrostIron - Freeform, M/M, Not A Happy Ending
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-10
Updated: 2014-12-11
Packaged: 2018-02-28 20:39:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,675
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2746250
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jadedace/pseuds/jadedace
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tony Stark doesn’t believe in soul mates. How strange that he should find his so easily.</p><p> </p><p>Story takes place post-Iron Man II, and over the (modified) events of Avengers. Most characters are only mentioned a handful of times.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Act I

Life is good for Tony Stark.

The palladium poisoning has passed, his company is back on top, and Pepper is in his arms. Tonight there are no villains to fight, there are no elaborate functions to attend, and the software in his suits can wait for its update. Tonight it is just Tony, Pepper, a bowl of popcorn, and the TV.

They watch nothing in particular, flipping through channels, stopping only occasionally to watch snippets of one movie or another. Ellen Burstyn fights a refrigerator, a white rabbit jumps down a hole, two soul mates find each other at last. Tony snorts derisively, mocking the last. He calls soul mates inane, fictional. Pepper calls it romantic.

Pepper wants to find her soul mate. Tony Stark doesn’t believe they exist.

—

Tony starts to break when he sees the internet history on Pepper’s Stark Pad is brimming with soul mate studies and papers. He shatters when she says she has felt the Lure, has found her other half. He asks if it’s him.

It’s not.

—

Pepper falls hard and fast, and for Happy no less. Tony doesn’t want to be bitter. Experts on soul mates say it’s not a choice, and answering the Lure is unavoidable. It’s not Pepper’s fault. It’s not Happy’s fault. Or it wouldn’t be, if it were all true.

But he smiles, graciously accepts that they can’t stay together. Inside he is torn apart, filled with lust and hurt, convinced their break up is the product of some other cause. Because to Tony Stark, soul mates don’t exist.

—

She tells him it feels like heroin, the Lure. It calls you, pulls you in, and you never want to leave your other half.

 _Like Wonderland_ , Happy says.

 _Down the rabbit hole_ , Pepper agrees. The soul mates part, Happy to his home and Pepper to hers.

 _If the Lure is so intense, why not live together?_ Tony wonders.

 _They say you have to leave it sometimes,_ Pepper explains, _or you’ll get lost. You won’t come back._

Tony doesn’t know what that means. Tony still doesn’t believe soul mates exist.

—

Life goes on. Pepper glows in a way she never has, Happy looks at her with eyes for no one else. Tony broods alone.

His sulk is interrupted by SHIELD. Coulson speaks of lost artefacts and alien gods. Pepper listens for him as Tony flips through SHIELD's incident report. There is very little, but the grainy security footage of the attack stands out to him. He sees a tall man, leather-clad and dangerous. There is a tugging at Tony’s breast that he can’t explain. He ignores it.

Tony Stark does _not_ believe in soul mates.

—

Extraordinary people gather in response to SHIELD’s call. Tony doesn’t work well on teams. Captain America wants to talk strategy. Tony doesn’t listen because Pepper isn’t there to do it for him. He is anxious to see their adversary, to meet him face to face. To see what the dark hair and leather armor hide. They find him in Germany, and Tony reaches him first.

The first meeting between hero and adversary doesn’t go well. A man with a hammer knocks Tony away. The leather man escapes.

New York is in danger now, from the leather man that has intrigued Tony so. Iron Man flies to confront the villain, strips himself of his armor, walks bare-faced to meet the alien god. Loki, is his name. Tony feels nothing but the pull at his breast, now. He wonders if Loki feels it, too.

A spear is at his chest, then a hand around his neck. Flesh meets flesh and Tony is at the edge of a hole, looking down into the green and black and leather darkness. All strings of the universe, of Tony’s entire existence, converge on this one point. He has found his other half, The Part That Completes, his own personal drug. His heart slows, his eyes are wide, and the god has an expression to match.

Tony Stark doesn’t believe in soul mates. How strange that he should find his so easily.

—

The end of the world stops with a kiss. Loki’s mouth is on his and Tony knots his fingers in the god’s hair, pressing close so that no space exists between them. Loki is water to Tony’s thirsty soul.

The Tesseract never opens, the aliens never come. The Avengers find their enemy and their ally locked in an embrace, neither willing to break contact with the other. The team is unsure if this is a problem or a solution.

Tony falls hard and fast, and Loki clings tight to him. Their worlds spin, a blur of light and sound and sensation so different from what either had experienced before.

Pepper smiles at Tony, hugs him when he is not hugging Loki.

 _You understand,_ she says.

 _Like Wonderland,_ Tony agrees.

 _Down the rabbit hole,_ he thinks, and smiles at Loki. Loki smiles back.

—

 _It is better than heroin,_ Tony thinks, tangled with Loki in the aftermath of their first night. It is a sensation he never wants to give up.

 _Be careful,_ they all say, _or you’ll never come back._

Tony wonders if perhaps they should slow down.

 _Nonsense_ , Loki scoffs, and pulls Tony in for a kiss. It feels so good, a wave of pleasure unending.

How could something that feels so right ever be wrong?

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shamelessly inspired by Taylor Swift's "Wonderland". This is my first (posted) fic, so be gentle.


	2. Act II

Life is good for Tony Stark.

The invasion has been stopped, New York is safe, and Loki is in his arms. They are inseparable, never alone, never without contact. They never come down from the high.

_Be careful_ , Pepper warns, _or you’ll never come back_.

_Slow down_ , Happy pleads, _or it will drive you mad_.

But Loki takes Tony in his arms, kisses his face and holds him tight.

_Are we not aware?_ he whispers, _Are we not in control? Could we not separate if we wished?_

_Yes_ , Tony agrees, and the god smiles a curious smile.

_Do we wish to be separated?_ he purrs.

_No_ , Tony whispers, _never_.

Their love that night is fierce.

—

SHIELD calls in the Avengers. A new threat rises from Latveria to conquer the world. Tony grudgingly leaves their bed, telling Loki he’ll return. Their good bye embrace lasts until Captain America drags them apart.

Doombots crawl over downtown New York, tearing up asphalt and concrete. Waves of them pour over the super team. Iron Man fights, but his thoughts are with Loki, and he longs to be anywhere but in this suit.

There are shouts in his ear—Cap and his strategy, Hawkeye and his recon. Tony drowns them out. He doesn’t work well on teams. The Doombots come and he easily dispatches them. The metal bodies of Doom’s army fall around his feet. His thoughts of Loki are loud, but the shouts in his helmet are louder.

_Stark!_ the Widow yells.

_What?_ he shouts back, but gets no verbal answer. Instead, the mound of twisted metal beneath him, the mound of which she had tried to warn him, detonates with an ear-splitting boom.

Tony’s last conscious thought is of his lover.

—

Tony wakes to sterile white and glaring lights and quite a large amount of pain.

He asks, _Where’s Loki?_ and gets only an angry sigh in response. Pepper comes into view, all fiery hair and burning eyes.

_This is not careful,_ Pepper says, and she does not mean his fight with the Doombots.

_Where’s Loki?_ he asks again, voice rasping. Tony is in pain, and the only cure is Loki.

_You’ll see him,_ Pepper answers.

_When?_ Tony presses.

_Not now_ , Pepper responds gently, placing a hand on his bandaged arm.

_Why?_ he continues, but he knows the answer.

_It’s for your own good,_ she promises, _you wouldn’t want to get lost._

But Tony is lost. Lost without Loki.

—

The hospital stay is long as Tony heals. He wonders how SHIELD has kept his soul mate from tearing down the facility to reach him. The day he is discharged he does not look at the faces of his team or of his friends. Loki meets him halfway, sweeping him up in a deep embrace. Tony’s wounds complain, but the pain is bearable in the presence of the god.

_We will never be apart, never again,_ Tony murmurs against Loki’s lips, _not unless we choose to be._

Loki says nothing, but his actions are agreement enough.

—

They are careful, for they are watched, and fear of separation keeps them discrete. Doom attacks again and again, and each time Tony returns unharmed. But the want still burns. Tony is filled with hurt and lust, and knows Loki feels the same. Their love is a drug, and as long as others watch neither soul mate gets their high. A crossroads approaches. Wonderland calls to them.

_You’re doing well,_ Pepper says one day.

_It’s hard, but it’s worth it,_ Happy affirms, his hand on her waist.

_To live in Wonderland is fine,_ Pepper continues.

_But to be completely absorbed is dangerous,_ Happy finishes.

_Climb out of the rabbit hole,_ Tony adds. They both smile, pleased he understands.

Tony leaves to find Loki drinking his tea, and pauses to watch the gentle steam rising upward.

_We have a choice to make,_ Tony begins. His god, his lover, his other half, lays his curious green gaze upon the other’s face. They have had this conversation many times.

_Could we not separate if we wished?_ Loki repeats his own words.

_What we want is not what we need,_ Tony reasons. Loki _hmmm_ s.

_But are we not aware? Are we not in control?_ is his response.

_Should we go mad instead?_ Tony shoots back.

_Perhaps we already are._ Loki’s eyes never leave Tony’s.

A pause stretches between them. The steam curls and dances in the air, twisting around them.

_Should we be separated?_ Loki asks at last, and Tony nods.

_Yes,_ he answers, _for a time._

_Do we wish to be separated?_ Loki purrs.

Tony hesitates. _No_ , he whispers.

_Then it shall not be._


	3. Act III

Life twists out of Tony Stark’s control.

He is falling again, and Loki is there to catch him. The inventor does not know how they ever existed apart. Sometimes the two disappear into their room for days on end. The Avengers grow worried, watching Iron Man’s slow descent.

_Can’t let this go on_ , Cap says.

_They are lost_ , the Widow adds.

_Save them from themselves_ , Bruce agrees.

Tony has seen the looks, has heard the whispers.

_They seek to keep us apart_ , Loki says one day, as the two lay breathless in a nest of tangled sheets.

_I know_.

_We should run_ , the god suggests, _run to where they cannot find us_.

_We can’t leave_ , Tony protests.

_And why not?_

_Be careful_ , Pepper whispers in his thoughts.

_We’ll get lost_ , he reasons. _We won’t come back._

_That’s the idea_ , Loki purrs in his ear.

Silence from Tony as Loki traces a pale finger across his skin. Then, _I will not be separated from you again._

_Nor I from you_ , the god’s warm breath brushes across the nape of the inventor’s neck.

_You are the one I cannot live without_ , Tony professes, turning to face his lover.

_So we will run._

_So we will run._

—

Loki knows places where they will be hidden.

_Forgotten worlds, empty spaces_ , the god croons, _hidden expanses between Yggdrasil’s branches._

_A curious labyrinth_ , Tony says to himself, and laughs.

He builds the device to get them there. The Tesseract, humming blue, dances in the mount he has constructed. SHIELD meant to hide the cube, to keep it safe. But there is no hiding from Loki’s curious eye. The Tesseract is their ticket to freedom.

_When do we leave?_ his god wonders, wrapping his arms around the inventor.

_Soon_ , Tony promises.

—

Progress slows. The Tesseract does not cooperate, releasing energy instead of channeling it. A portal opens but is not sustained. It implodes, violently. The more energy is added, the longer the portal remains, and the more destruction its destabilization wreaks. Tony follows a pattern, of adjusting the mount and running simulations. Each ends more disastrously than the last.

Another simulation flashes red and implodes. Tony frowns.

_We can’t escape this way_ , he concludes, _or New York burns_.

_We’re out of time_ , Loki insists. _We have no other options. To stay is to be parted_.

_To leave is to doom the city_ , Tony answers. The eyes of his god narrow.

_Shall we be separated then?_

Torn. To escape together or to live apart. The Lure calls, and Tony is lost.

_No_ , he concludes. _Tomorrow we leave_.

—

The Avengers suspect. Tony feels their eyes on he and his lover. Concerned, Bruce approaches.

_We’re worried_ , he starts. _We want to help._

_We don’t need help,_ Tony says defensively. Before long, he knows, the Avengers will intervene.

_We leave tomorrow_ , Loki assures him.

_Yes_ , the inventor replies. _Tomorrow_. 

—

The end of the world starts with a kiss. It is filled with passion and the finality of a decision. They have chosen their path, and Wonderland beckons. Tony links the Tesseract to the arc reactor beneath the Tower. It hums like a thing possessed as the energy flows, a time bomb waiting to explode.

_It is dangerous_ , he remarks. _Imperfect. Destructive_.

_We’re already late,_  Loki presses, _Out of time. They’ll tear us apart._

_Off with our heads,_ Tony agrees. Without hesitation, he activates the device.

—

New York burns around them as the portal grows. Beneath the Tower, the arc reactor screams in protest. The Earth shakes, the lights of the city dim and extinguish. The wail of sirens fills the streets. Before the lovers, the maw of the portal opens to reveal shimmering space, the promise of life together.

But something is wrong. The portal opens slowly, not fast and hot as in the simulations. The Avengers have already scrambled. Time is running out.

_Soon_ , Tony shouts, willing the doorway to widen.

_Not soon enough,_ Loki says, taking hold of his inventor. _We leave now, or we do not leave at all._

Hand in hand, the lovers are at the edge of the hole, looking down into black and twisting and infinite darkness. Loki takes a step, and Tony follows. 

—

Suddenly, unexpectedly, there are hands on Tony's shoulders, wrapped around his torso. His team is pulling him back, dragging him away from the portal, away from his lover. The inventor fights, claws and bites and screams and begs. The Lure urges him on, a vacancy in his chest that demands to be filled.

_Tony_ , Cap shouts, _you’ve gone too far._

_We have to shut it down_ , Hawkeye yells.

_It’s for your own good,_ the Widow assures him. But Loki is the only _good_ he needs.

The god reaches through space for Tony, desperate to snatch his lover back, but Thor’s hammer knocks him away. Loki tumbles through the half-open gateway. Bruce pulls the plug on the Tesseract before the portal destabilizes, and the gateway closes after the god, leaving the inventor behind. The void in Tony's chest explodes, devouring him, a black hole that consumes him with want, with need, with _madness_. The hunger is too great and his soul mate is not there to sate it. Tony shouts himself hoarse as the Avengers carry him away.

—

He wakes to sterile white and glaring lights. An empty bed affirms what he already knows—Loki is gone, whisked lightyears away by the portal that was to be their escape. The distressed sound that rips from his throat grows to a fevered pitch, a caterwaul that doesn’t cease. Tony’s chest is empty, a starved cavity that he cannot fill. He scrapes at the walls, pounds on the door, rips the whole of his room apart, begging to be reunited. 

_Tragic_ , announce the tabloids.

_Unhinged_ , murmur the nurses.

_Mad_ , concede the Avengers. 

_You'll see Loki again,_ Pepper tries to assure her friend. _But you've got to come home first_.

The grieved inventor only turns away.

Tony Stark never believed in soul mates. How strange he should get lost so easily. 

 


End file.
